...It is striking that the people who most dislike the whole idea of healthcare reform - the ones who think it is socialist, godless, a step on the road to a police state - are often the ones it seems designed to help.

In Texas, where barely two-thirds of the population have full health insurance and over a fifth of all children have no cover at all, opposition to the legislation is currently running at 87%.

Stories not facts

In his book The Political Brain, psychologist Drew Westen, an exasperated Democrat, tried to show why the Right often wins the argument even when the Left is confident that it has the facts on its side.

He uses the following exchange from the first presidential debate between Al Gore and George Bush in 2000 to illustrate the perils of trying to explain to voters what will make them better off:

Gore: "Under the governor's plan, if you kept the same fee for service that you have now under Medicare, your premiums would go up by between 18% and 47%, and that is the study of the Congressional plan that he's modelled his proposal on by the Medicare actuaries." [img]Bush: "Look, this is a man who has great numbers. He talks about numbers.

"I'm beginning to think not only did he invent the internet, but he invented the calculator. It's fuzzy math. It's trying to scare people in the voting booth."

Mr Gore was talking sense and Mr Bush nonsense - but Mr Bush won the debate. With statistics, the voters just hear a patronising policy wonk, and switch off.

For Mr Westen, stories always trump statistics, which means the politician with the best stories is going to win: "One of the fallacies that politicians often have on the Left is that things are obvious, when they are not obvious.

"Obama's administration made a tremendous mistake by not immediately branding the economic collapse that we had just had as the Republicans' Depression, caused by the Bush administration's ideology of unregulated greed. The result is that now people blame him."

MORE AT THE LINK!

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

This is something I have wondered about and questioned for a long time. Its just like people complaining about liberals wanting to "socialize" everything, then I ask them if they have a student loan, or if their mom is on social security or medicare...then all of the sudden those things don't count as socialism. UG, retards.

_________________You can sing the praises of women all day long, but as long as you put a fertilized egg ahead of [their] welfare, you do not really care about them.-Dori 4/07

Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2005 7:53 pmPosts: 690Location: Between East and West

Lefty, Have you often thought how strange some people are today...I'll change that to millions, have no idea what is going on in America? These very "havenots" that complain, are the same that will refuse benefits that will improve their lives. Let me give you example.... A politician standing on the street corner with $500.00 in one fist, and a bottle of beer in the other, telling the crowd which one would you rather have now. Would you like to guess which hand is most taken?

Beer!!!!. The Redneck Style

I rest my case.

_________________If you think you are beaten, your are. If you think you dare not, you won't. If you like to win, but you think you can't, it is most certain you won't.

I have thought about this too. The conclusion I have come to is that most people don't trust persons with intelligence. They are far more comfortable with not so bright people, or at least people who can appear not too bright.

People here lap up Fox News. What does Fox do? Play to fear and anger, never to intelligence.

People on the left play to intelligence. It falls flat.

We do need simple, bumper sticker thinking repeated loudly and often. But the left doesn't seem to be able to do that. We give people credit for being thinking individuals. That is the first mistake.